Southern Shifters: Inked By The Bear (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Black & White Series Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

personal space, uncaring that he could rip her apart, uncaring that he was a predator, and a dangerous one at that. All she cared about was the fact he was tearing everything apart with nothing more than words. “ This is my life.” She pointed at Gus. “ This is his life.”
    She didn’t raise her voice, but her blood heated and her pulse quickened, the same as it had earlier. She wanted to tear into him or have sex with Gus. She wasn’t sure which desire was stronger.
    Gus was at her back and had hold of her hands before she could reach out for Luke. His touch managed to calm her almost instantly. How did he know?
    “There’s only one way to really figure this out, Wolf, and you’re not invited.”
    “Tough shit. I’m going with you. I’ll send my pack home back to Deal’s Gap, but I’m going with you.”
    “Going?” Bex turned to glance up at Gus. “What are you two talking about? Where are you going?”
    “We. Where are we going would be the more correct question. A road trip. To see my family.”
    “You believe him? You believe he’s telling the truth?”
    Gus kissed the top of her head and tugged her in close. “I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t know, baby. But it seems maybe there are answers to be had and facing it all head on is better than burying our collective heads in the sand.” He lifted his gaze to Luke. “I can’t promise they won’t try to kill you.”
    “I can’t promise I won’t try to return the favor.”

 
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
    “Gus? Are you sure you want to do this?”
    She was nervous, his Bex. His pretty girl. His woman. She was nervous and she couldn’t hide it. He wouldn’t want her to hide it, either. “I’m sure that I don’t have a choice.”
    “Was there someone? A bear who just disappeared one day? Do you remember?”
    Gus shook his head. God, he needed to shift. He needed to go for a swim. He needed to get the hell out and get into the trees and the forest. He needed to be alone with his thoughts, with the panic that was threatening to overflow and swallow him whole.
    He also needed Bex, and needed her to understand things he wasn’t even sure he understood. He tamped down the overwhelming feelings inside and pulled her around and into his lap.
    Once he’d gotten her away from Luke and had sent the wolf to join his pack out back, he’d ushered Bex into the house and locked the doors. Not that that would keep Luke or any of his wolves outside if they really wanted in, but he suspected Luke didn’t want bloodshed any more than Gus did.
    Looking down at Bex, Gus couldn’t say the same. He sensed that she was ready and willing, if not able just yet, to rip Blackwood’s throat out. "I don’t know. I want to say yes, but I have to say no. I spent a lot of time outside when I was younger, out in the woods, trying to figure out where I fit in because I didn’t fit in. Not really. I missed my parents, but I didn’t know I missed them. I stopped talking. I didn’t cry. I just felt lost. I don’t know if there was someone who was around and then disappeared. I just know I wanted to disappear too.”
    She hugged him. Halfway through, she hugged him, arms tight around his neck. Her softness comforted him. “I’m so sorry,” she said, her breath warm on his skin.
    “Do you want any answers? Bex, look at me.” He almost gave up on her doing it, but she finally lifted her head. Uncertainty resided in her gaze when her eyes met his.
    “Answers to what? What good would it do me to know anything new at all now? What good would it do? My mother is gone and if it happens to be that one of your adopted relatives was my real father, what good does that do you or me? The truth isn’t always a good thing to know. It doesn’t always heal or help.”
    “And what if you’re a shifter like Luke said?”
    That answer came swiftly, first with a shrug, then a smirk. “Would make sense, I guess, since I want to smack him around.”
    “Nah.” Gus nipped at